The hospital room was quiet, but not in a peaceful way. The kind of quiet that held weight, thick with all the things that hadn’t been said yet. The heart monitor beeped steadily, the IV dripped in the background, and Ezme could feel Rose’s stare burning into her from across the room.
She sighed, shifting slightly in the bed, wincing at the lingering pain in her body. “Alright,” she muttered. “Just say it.”
Rose didn’t move. Arms crossed, jaw tight, eyes dark with exhaustion. “Say what?”
Ezme gave her a tired look. “Whatever you’ve been holding in for the past few days. Just fucking get it over with.”
Rose exhaled sharply, rubbing a hand down her face. “You really want to do this now?” Her accent slipping out.
Ezme let out a weak, humorless laugh. “Not really, but I feel like if I don’t let you yell at me, you might actually explode.”
Rose didn’t laugh. Didn’t even crack a smile. She just stared at Ezme, the muscle in her jaw twitching.
“I’m not gonna yell,” she finally said, voice steady but edged with something sharp. “I’m too fucking tired to yell.”
Ezme frowned. “Then what?”
Rose leaned forward, elbows on her knees, running a hand through her hair. “I just don’t get you sometimes, Ezme.”
Ezme blinked, caught off guard. “What?”
“I don’t get how you let it get this bad,” Rose said, shaking her head. “How you just ignored it until you were literally screaming in pain.” She gestured around the room. “Look at where we are, Ezme. Just look. You’re in a goddamn hospital bed, hooked up to an IV, because you decided you’d rather fucking suffer than admit you needed help.”
Ezme looked away. “I didn’t think it was that serious.”
Rose let out a breath that was almost a laugh—sharp, disbelieving. “Bullshit.”
Ezme clenched her jaw. “What do you want me to say, Rose? That I knew something was wrong? That I ignored it because I fucking hate hospitals? Because the thought of being stuck here like this makes my skin crawl?” She exhaled sharply. “You think I wanted this to happen?”
Rose narrowed her eyes. “No, Ezme, I think you’re so fucking stubborn that you’d rather suffer than admit you need help. That’s what I think.”
Ezme scoffed. “I don’t need to be coddled, Rose. I can handle pain—”
“Handle pain?” Rose’s voice rose slightly, frustration cracking through. “*Ezme, you were crying. You were shaking, throwing up, begging me to make it stop. That’s not handling pain, that’s being in so much agony that your body couldn’t take it anymore.” She ran a hand through her hair, letting out a sharp breath. “Jesus, Ezme, do you even hear yourself right now?”
Ezme pressed her lips into a thin line. “I just… I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it.”
Rose stared at her like she had just said the stupidest thing imaginable. “A big deal? Ezme, you needed emergency surgery. It was a big deal.”
Ezme swallowed, but didn’t argue. Because Rose was right.
Rose sat back in her chair, rubbing at her face like she was trying to physically wipe away the stress of the past few days. When she finally spoke again, her voice was quieter.
“Do you have any idea how scared I was?” she said, looking at Ezme. “Watching you cry and beg for the pain to stop? Watching them take you into surgery and not knowing if—” She stopped herself, inhaling sharply. “I thought I was gonna lose you, Ezme.”
Ezme’s stomach twisted. Rose wasn’t just mad. She was scared. Even now, after Ezme had made it through surgery, after the infection was being treated, she could still see that fear in Rose’s eyes.
Ezme exhaled slowly. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
Rose shook her head. “I don’t care about being scared, baby. I care about you not ending up here again.” She hesitated, then reached for Ezme’s hand, gripping it tightly. “I love you too fucking much to watch you keep doing this to yourself. I won’t do it again. I won’t.”
Ezme swallowed hard. She could feel Rose’s hand shaking against hers.
“I know,” she said, voice quiet. “I know, love.” She sighed, looking down at their joined hands. “I swear, I’ll do better. I won’t be such a dumbass next time.”
Rose snorted, shaking her head. “Good.” Then, after a pause, her lips twitched slightly. “You are still a dumbass, though.”
Here’s part two, picking up where the appendix fic left off (last year lol). I’m thinking about writing part 3, but that’s still to be decided.
Thank you to @bellysoupset for the help!!
⸻
Rose decided that calling an ambulance was the best option, since Ezme could hardly move without crying out in pain. It took forever to get there, or at least it felt that way. Rose paced the length of the living room, her hands shaking as she cast frantic glances toward Ezme, who lay on the couch, her face pale and contorted in pain. The 911 operator had assured her help was on the way, but every passing second stretched unbearably.
Rose was interrupted when Ezme touched her hand and pitched forward, Rose barely had time to react before Ezme gagged, her body convulsing violently.
“Shit- Ezme!”
Then it happened. Ezme turned her head just enough before vomiting all over the rug, her whole body shaking with the effort. The sound was awful, a wrenching, gut-deep retch that left her gasping. Tears streamed down her face, her shoulders heaving as another wave hit, and Rose could do nothing but watch, heart hammering.
Ezme whimpered between gasps, her voice raw and broken. “I- can’t-” She sobbed, curling in on herself, her body stiff with pain. “It hurts, Rose-make it stop—please—”
Rose felt utterly helpless. She knelt beside her, brushing damp hair from her clammy forehead, whispering desperate reassurances she wasn’t even sure Ezme could hear.
“It’s okay, it’s okay, I’ve got you,” Rose murmured, voice shaking. “The ambulance is coming, just hold on for me”
Ezme moaned in agony, squeezing her eyes shut as another sharp wave of pain tore through her. She was delirious, exhausted, and Rose had never seen her like this. It made her stomach churn with panic.
Rose tightened her grip on Ezme’s hand, pressing a trembling kiss to it. “Just a little longer, baby. Just hold on.”
The ambulance had finally made it, and Rose sat stiffly, her fingers clenched so tightly around Ezme’s hand that her knuckles were white. Ezme was barely conscious, her skin clammy and too pale, her breathing shallow. Every bump in the road made her wince, but she was too weak to complain. That was the worst part, Ezme never shut up about pain, always grumbling about how annoying it was, always brushing it off. But now, she didn’t even have the energy to tell Rose she was fine.
“Stay with me, baby,” Rose whispered, her voice cracking. “You’re gonna be okay, ma chèrie. You have to be okay.”
The paramedic checked Ezme’s vitals, adjusting the IV in her arm. “Her blood pressure’s low. We need to move fast.”
The panic clawing at Rose’s chest tightened. “Just—just do whatever you have to, okay? Just fix her, please.”
She could barely focus as they pulled up to the hospital. Everything blurred into a rush of movement—doctors shouting, nurses pushing Ezme’s stretcher down the hall. Rose tried to follow, but a nurse gently stopped her at the doors to the operating room.
“You have to wait here.”
Rose’s breath caught. “No, but—” She looked past them, catching one last glimpse of Ezme as they wheeled her inside. Her face was slack, her tattoos standing out starkly against her pale skin. No. No, no, no—
The doors shut in her face.
Rose pressed a trembling hand to her mouth, a sob forcing its way out. She had to sit down before she collapsed, her legs threatening to give out. She couldn’t go through this again, she can’t lose someone close to her again… She heard her name being called and she spun around, moving her away from the trance she was in. It was her mother, she had forgotten that she called her when they were in the ambulance.
“Chèrie? Que s'est-il passé? Ezme va bien?” She sounded frantic and concerned, trying to stay calm for her daughter and pulling her into a hug.
“Mum?” Her voice broke, a feeling of relief washing over her and she broke down into tears, sniffling. She didn’t know how long they sat there, her mother’s arms wrapped around her, rubbing her back slightly. All she could hear was the echo of Ezme’s weak voice in the ambulance, the way her grip had slackened in Rose’s hand.
“Is she in surgery?” Her mother broke the silence, but when she got no answer she looked down at Rose who was clearly zoned out. “Baby?”
“Hmm? Y-yeah she’s in surgery…” Her mother frowned, pressing a kiss to her temple. Rose sighed softly, “I should’ve convinced her to come in earlier, I- this is my fault-”
“No, this isn’t your fault, these things happen and we don’t have control over it okay? She’ll be alright, this is Ezme remember?” Rose nodded and moved closer so that her mother could hug her tighter.
Nurses passed by, doctors rushed in and out, none of them coming towards her a she was growing more worried and impatient by the minute. She needed answers, she felt helpless just sitting there doing nothing. Negative thoughts filled her mind and she couldn’t stop them.
What if she didn’t make it? What if Rose had pushed too hard, waited too long to convince her to come in?
A nurse appeared in front of them and Rose’s mother touched her shoulder gently, pulling her from her spiral. “Are you Ezme’s emergency contact?”
Rose looked up, her throat was dry. “Yeah. Is she—” She swallowed hard. “Is she okay?”
“She’s in surgery now. Her appendix ruptured, which caused an infection, but they’re working to remove it and clean the area. It’s a serious situation, but she’s in good hands.”
That wasn’t enough. Rose needed to see her, needed to hear her make some dumb joke about how hospitals sucked and that she was never coming back here again.
Instead, all she could do was nod numbly as the nurse led them to the waiting area.
Minutes stretched into hours. Every time a doctor walked by, Rose’s heart lurched, but they never stopped for her. She clenched her fists, digging her nails into her palms just to keep herself grounded.
She wasn’t ready for a world without Ezme in it.
Then, finally, a doctor approached her. She stood up, so quickly that her head spun slightly. She searched the doctor’s eyes looking like a ship lost at sea, wanting to hear good news.
“Ezme’s out of surgery,” he said. “She’s stable.”
Rose felt like she could breathe again for the first time in hours. “Can I see her?”
“Soon. She’s still groggy from the anesthesia, but we’ll bring you in once she wakes up.”
Rose nodded quickly. She’d wait. She’d wait as long as she needed to—just as long as Ezme woke up. She looked down at her mother, smiling with relief, her mother returning the gesture too.
_________________
The steady beep of the heart monitor was the first thing Rose heard when she stepped into the hospital room. It should have been reassuring, proof that Ezme was alive, stable, but all Rose could focus on was how small she looked in the hospital bed. Pale, exhausted, wires and IV lines hooked up to her, a stark contrast to the woman who always stood tall, unshakable.
Rose sank into the chair beside the bed, her hands trembling as she reached for Ezme’s. It was warm, too warm. The doctors had warned her about post-surgery fevers, saying it was common, but it didn’t make it any easier to see Ezme’s forehead damp with sweat.
She had spent hours pacing, waiting for Ezme to wake up. Thinking about what she’d say.
“You scared the shit out of me.”
“You don’t get to brush things off anymore.”
But now, sitting here, watching Ezme’s chest rise and fall, Rose felt something else pressing harder against her ribs. The sheer, aching relief that she was still here at all.
She exhaled shakily, rubbing her thumb over Ezme’s knuckles. “You’re a real pain in the ass, you know that?” she murmured, her voice thick with emotion. “Always acting like you’re invincible. Like you can just push through anything.” She let out a bitter laugh. “You didn’t even tell me how bad it was. If I hadn’t pushed you to go, if I had let you walk it off like you wanted to…”
She trailed off, her throat tightening. She didn’t want to think about what could have happened.
Instead, she rested her forehead lightly against Ezme’s hand. “Just wake up, okay? So I can yell at you properly.”
It felt like hours, but eventually, Ezme stirred. A quiet groan, the faintest flutter of eyelashes. Rose bolted upright, watching as Ezme’s eyes slowly cracked open.
At first, they were unfocused, dazed. But then they found Rose, and a weak, lopsided smirk tugged at her lips. “Hey…”
Tears pricked at Rose’s eyes, but she swallowed them down. “Hey, dumbass.”
Ezme blinked sluggishly. “Hospital?”
“Yeah. Surgery. You almost didn’t make it because you’re the most stubborn person alive.”
Ezme exhaled, her smirk fading. “Shit.”
“Yeah. Shit.” Rose squeezed her hand. “We’re gonna have a long talk about this when you’re feeling better.”
Ezme didn’t argue. Didn’t roll her eyes or try to brush it off. She just looked at Rose—really looked at her, taking in the exhaustion, the red-rimmed eyes, the worry still carved into every inch of her.
“I’m sorry,” she mumbled, voice hoarse.
Rose let out a slow breath, pressing a kiss to her knuckles. “Yeah. You will be.”
